Elias’ face broke into a smile. “Aye. I heard your tale earlier. You were on the ship, too.”
They toasted a drink to Black Agnes and reminisced for a bit. Then, Raphael looked over Elias’ shoulder at Hugh and shook his head. “I wish there to be peace and havin’ him hate me willna do. I wonder if ye would ask him to come back.”
Elias stared at him for a moment—mayhap two, as if he’d just sprouted another nose. Then he pushed out of his chair, pounded his way to where Hugh was sitting, dragged him up by the back of his plaid, and returned with him to the table. He ripped a chair from under the table and sat Tanner in it.
“There,” he said to Raphael. “Is that better?”
Raphael smiled at him and nodded then continued to smile for the next three hours while he shared food and drinks with Elysande and the rest of her siblings and cousins.
When the end of the night finally came, Raphael hated bidding Elysande good eve. He could have stayed awake for another twenty hours talking to her. But it was best to let her go.
That was what he told himself until he fell asleep and dreamed of her.
